HOW BEING A MOTHER MADE ME A BETTER ENTREPRENEUR

You conceive an idea.

It lives inside you, as you think about it and nurture it. You swing between anxieties and joys until the idea is ready.

Then it comes alive.

Total confidence, complete doubt sleepless nights, feeling down, or elated all become part and parcel.

What you go through as a mother is pretty much the same as an entrepreneur. We are hard-wired for a journey packed with challenges.

In India, when you become a mother, you are instantly written off in the corporate world as an inefficient resource.

When I returned to work after I was blessed with my twins, I was thrown straightaway into unknown waters.

I had to prove myself once again from the ground up when I had already achieved so much only a year ago.

Good thing is that I have only come out of the experience believing that motherhood teaches the best lessons of life and business.

Motherhood opened doors for me. I got space to figure out what I really wanted to create for myself, and time to pursue that ambition. My maternity break was an incubation period and the beginning of my mumpreneurship journey.

What I’ve learned along the way has only made me stronger.

#1 Mums can be pictures of patience

Motherhood is not only a test of your patience, but about upping your patience levels to deal with all that a child goes through as a natural process of growth.

Think about it. You return exhausted after a long day, but if your child needs a loving touch, you’re willing to push your tiredness away and pour your love into that moment.

Entrepreneurship will call upon the highest patience from you in trying moments, and being a mother readies you for that switch on-off.

#2 Mother’s instinct is a unique gift

Mums develop a sixth sense that protects children in undefined, sometimes miraculous, ways. Notice how you always land up in a room, when your child needs it the most.

This sense, once evoked, comes in handy as an entrepreneur. In your heart of hearts, you always know which client to go with, or who to partner with for the long run.

#3 Ego: what’s that?

A mother is willing to listen to well-wishers around for pointers to bring up her children well. Yet she has the wisdom to judge what is best for them.

Being an entrepreneur too is all about chucking ego out of the window, learning from mistakes of others and taking the right call when needed.

#4 Mums toe the fine line between protectiveness and letting go

A good parent or entrepreneur is never too protective about their own creation.

As a parent, you know exactly when to guide your child, and when not to overshadow them so much that they do not learn their own lessons.

Likewise, in business, you must know when to let it grow at its own pace.

#5 Mums can give birth (to ideas) and nurture them with care

Mums have a knack of building businesses out of real-life experiences, and that’s what the world needs right now.

My company Concept Exhibitions, for instance, was born when I got tired of taking my children to play areas in random shopping malls weekend after weekend. Today, Concept Exhibitions provides a range of educative recreation options to assist in the development of children.

My other venture, Silhouette by Yukti, stemmed from my own experience as a working mother. Waking up insane hours, emotional ups and downs took a toll on my career and my body.

So I crafted a wide variety of modules, including workshops for mums to help them strike back with more confidence than ever.

So mums, gear up you already have the makings of a great entrepreneur in you.

If you’re already a mumpreneur like me, or want to become one, I want you to know that you can enhance your confidence and performance levels.

Becoming a mother has helped me in becoming a better human being. I no longer define success as something that I need to wait for. I embrace success every day with enthusiasm.

If you are fearful that becoming a mother means compromising on your career, let me stop you right there. I want you to know that I am a living example that being a mum will only nourish your career.

No matter who you are, if you’re looking to pump up, tell me all about it and let’s find a way to maximize you, at one of my unique workshops designed just for mumpreneurs.